“I think someone is trying to mislead you,” said John Kartch, spokesman for Americans for Tax Reform, the anti-tax group that has been strongly critical of the president’s fiscal policies. “We’re circulating no such flyer. ATR sent out a mail piece opposing President Obama’s policies using a storm analogy way back in September. Sounds like someone is being dishonest.”

Kartch supplied an invoice from Arena Communications in Salt Lake City showing that the piece was sent to the printer on September 19 with a scheduled completion date of October 1.

“The mailer was designed on Sept. 17, 40 days before the hurricane hit Virginia,” he noted. “We were invoiced on Sept. 19, 38 days before the hurricane hit Virginia. The mailer went out on Oct. 1, 27 days before the hurricane hit Virginia.”

The mailing took on a new life when it was distributed at a northern Virginia apartment complex the morning after Hurricane Sandy struck. The image, posted on Twitter Tuesday morning, declared, “WE’VE SEEN STORMS IN VIRGINIA, BUT NONE LIKE THIS…

“Barack Obama’s policies have added $4 billion in debt each day he’s been in office.

“America CAN’T AFFORD this debt.”

The ATR mailing declares that “a financial storm is brewing.”

The original post created a backlash among conservatives who viewed it as unfair and partisan.

“When are you going to correct this entry?” William Maron stated in an email. “ATR denies it and can prove it. You don’t tell us who the friend is. You don’t tell us if you contacted the purported author. If you don’t correct this, you are a partisan hack, as bad as some blogspot blogger. If you wonder why readership is down, look in the mirror.”